Georgia’s jobless rate down from October 2012
ATLANTA — Georgia’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate decreased to 8.1 percent in October, down two-tenths of a percentage point from 8.3 percent in September, the Georgia Department of Labor announced Thursday.
The rate was seven-tenths of a percentage point lower than 8.8 percent in October a year ago.
Because of the federal government shutdown, no states were allowed to publish state labor market data for September.
“We’ve seen Georgia gain almost 30,000 jobs over the last two months, and the good thing about the job creation is that it’s pretty much through all sectors,” said Labor Commissioner Mark Butler.
“Most importantly, we saw construction again show strength in that over the year more than 7,500 jobs have been created in construction in Georgia.”
The number of jobs rose to 4,078,700 in October, the largest number since November 2008.
Over-the year, Georgia gained 85,500 jobs, or 2.1 percent, since October 2012.
Urgent-care clinic opens in Bluffton
Georgia Emergency Associates has opened an urgent-care clinic at St. Joseph’s/Candler Immediate Care in Bluffton, S.C.
The organization’s fifth clinic opened Nov. 15 in the Buckwalter Place development at 3 Progressive St. The walk-in urgent care clinic will be open seven days a week and will treat adults and children over 9 months of age for minor illness and injuries that do not require a trip to the hospital emergency room.
The clinic will also offer a full range of employer health care services as well as school and sports physicals and flu shots. The center will accept most commercial insurance as well as Medicare and Medicaid.
A ribbon-cutting ceremony has been scheduled for Dec. 12. For additional information, visit getIMMEDIATEcare.com.
Bank collects cash, food for Loaves and Fishes
During Ameris Bank’s 4th Annual “Helping Fight Hunger” initiative in October, the bank’s branch in Pooler collected more than 420 non-perishable food items.
Company-wide, more than 500,000 non-perishable food items were collected along with $75,000 in donations. Those donations will be distributed among Loaves and Fishes food banks.
“I am so proud of the results of our efforts, and I am extremely thankful for the support from our employees, customers and the community,” said market president Austen Carroll. “We all know that one food drive won’t completely eliminate the need, but we hope it brought attention to a growing issue and provided help to our local food bank.”